The Clara Chronicles
by TheRedHat
Summary: AU: Clara Oswin Oswald survives and travels with The Doctor. As time goes on, The Doctor begins to realise that there is something impossible about Clara, especially when he meets another Clara who looks exactly like his Victorian companion, dying after saving his life in modern day London. A cute little AU with traces of Whouffle.
1. The Snowmen

**Chapter One: The Snowmen**

_First off, yes. A lot of this first chapter is taken directly from the episode 'The Snowmen,' and this is to set up the story. I'm trying to keep this as close to the storyline as possible but just changing exactly how The Doctor finds out about Clara if it was Victorian Clara who became his travelling companion. After this one, there will be references to other episodes and there may be snippets from them, but this one obviously is heavily taken from the episode. So, much of the dialogue and storyline in this first chapter belongs to Moffat and the BBC. Thanks for reading and I hope you'll enjoy reading about the adventures of Victorian Clara._

**Clara Oswin Oswald**

_I was born on the 23__rd__ of November in the year 1866. My mother, Jessica Oswald and my father, Mark Oswald raised me here in London. I miss my old Pa, so does Ma, but we manage best we can. I was 26 years old and 1 month exactly when a man walked into my life who would change everything I thought I knew about the world. A man who would show me the stars._

_It all started when I was working at the Rose 'n Crown, just for a favour. I'd gone outside, just for moment, only a moment. All that noise, all those men. I needed a moment out in the cold chill of the snow. It was the snowman. I noticed it, seemed as though it came out of nowhere, and its face…it was fierce like an animal. And then he walked by._

"Did you make this snowman?" I ask him. He wears a top hat and walks as though he doesn't care about anything at all and yet cares too much, so much that the world is a heavy burden upon his back and he has to look down just to bear it. A man like this certainly could have created such a frightening looking snowman.

"No," he says without stopping, without even turning his head to glance at me.

"Well who did?" I ask him because there hasn't been another soul pass here in a while and this snowman hasn't been here that long. He doesn't respond but I don't care. I keep talking anyway, figure he's bound to stop and listen eventually. Ma always said I had a mouth on me, didn't know when to keep it shut. "Cause it wasn't there a second ago. It just appeared from nowhere." I can see I've got his attention.

He turns and his face is so young and yet so very hard, so closed off from everyone and everything in this world. It makes me wonder what has happened to him to make him this way. His clothes tell me he is at least well off, not likely to have been an orphaned child growing up in the slums of London and he looks healthy. He's walking over to me, his feet crunching the snow beneath. He pulls out a pair of glasses, round. They don't suit him, it's almost as though they belonged to someone else and he borrowed them. He puts them on and looks at me; I mean really looks at me. Then his attention falls to the snowman.

"Maybe its snow that fell before. Maybe it remembers how to make snowmen," he says. That's silly, I think. At least I only mean to think it.

"What? Snow that can remember? That's silly," I tell him.

"What's wrong with silly?" he asks.

"Nothing," I say, thinking how very silly this whole thing is. Even talking to him now seems silly. "Still talkin' to you ain't I?" For some reason he strikes me as familiar even though I'm certain I'd remember a face like his. Yet I can't shake the feeling I know him from somewhere. He gives me the very slightest of smiles before his face falls back to that closed off expression.

"What's your name?" he asks me, taking off his glasses and putting them in his pocket. Always says just my first name, never know with some of the blokes 'round 'ere.

"Clara," I tell him.

"Nice name Clara," he says. He says my name in a way that makes it feel special, precious even, like I know he'll remember it because maybe I'm just a little bit important. God knows why. And then he's leaving.

"Definitely keep it," he says, referring to my name. "Goodbye."

On a whim, I decide to follow him 'round the corner.

"Oi," I call to him. "Where are you going? I thought we was just getting acquainted?!"

He turns back 'round and sadness is all I see, etched into his perfect face. Then he smiles at me again and I notice his eyes are green.

"Those were the days," he says, looking down. I wonder if that's what 'appened. If he lost a friend, maybe a lover? Sure would explain a lot about 'im. He says nothing else, just turns away again and goes to leave. But now I'm determined to figure him out. I know I should just drop it, Ma would tell me off for following him like this. I almost don't. I even take a few steps back to the bar but then I hear the horse and the crack of the whip as the carriage rolls off and I can't leave this alone. I run.

I catch up to the carriage easily, climb onto the roof and slide myself forward just a little. There's a hatch up here. It's a bumpy ride but I hold tight and I can hear a conversation inside the carriage. He's talking to a woman.

"Ah. How refreshing to see you taking an interest again. Was she nice?" the woman's voice asks.

"I just spoke to her," he replies gruffly. Was I right about the lost lover? It would explain his hesitance.

"And made your usual impact no doubt," the woman replies.

"No. No impact at all," he tells her. "Those days are over." He sounds tired, tired of this conversation and I wonder how long it has been.

"You can't help yourself. It's the same story every time and it always begins with the same two words," the woman's voice says.

"She'll never be able to find me again. She doesn't even have the name Doctor," he cuts in. Doctor what? "What two words?"

I'm starting to slip so I take a stab and open the hatch, popping in head first so that my eyes are level with his. "Doctor? Doctor Who?" And he looks surprised, like he didn't expect this at all. 'Spose people don't usually go popping their heads down into people's cabs.

He pulls me in, doesn't talk to me, not even one word. A short time passes and he orders his driver to stop. I watch him the whole time. He is certainly very handsome, definitely sad and I'd guess lonely too. He gets out and puts a hand up to me, a signal to stay here. I do, stupidly, stupid Clara and he locks me in. There's a thing, not human, in fact kind of looks like a walking potato and he talks to it. The way they act they obviously know each other and I think this might have been our driver. I think it must be some kind of alien, though I didn't ever believe in them until tonight. The Doctor looks at the snow and he talks to the alien thing. I can't hear 'em properly, they're too far away.

"Oi let me out!" I shout, banging against the door. He ignores me. I keep yelling let me out, yelling at him for daring to lock me in 'ere. I try kicking the door but that just shakes the cab and hurts my foot a little. I'm furious at him and at myself. Never follow strange men Clara, I remind myself a little too late. He doesn't even glance over at the carriage the whole time I'm yelling. "Who locks women in his cab?" I yell, and I'm raging. "Doctor!" I try his name, or whatever it is. "Are you listening to me? Oi!"

He pulls the door open and I jerk back just in case.

"Don't worry, no one's going to hurt you," he says in a soothing voice and the way he says it, I trust him. Don't know why or how seeing as he just locked me up in this same cab, but I still trust him. The alien is standing in the doorway.

"What is that thing?" I ask The Doctor.

"Silence boy!" It says. At least it speaks English, that's nice. I remember to keep my mouth shut but I'm fuming. I don't even look at all like a boy!

"That's Strax," The Doctor tells me. "And as you can see, he's easily confused. To his credit, Strax does look confused.

"Silence…girl!" Strax says instead. "Sorry about that."

The Doctor tells me that Strax is something called a Sontaran, a cloned warrior race that is factory produced and this launches a short argument between the pair.

"Who are you?" I ask finally breaking them up.

"Doesn't matter because you're about to forget," he says to me. "We'll need the worm," he says to Strax. What the bloody hell is the worm?

"You'll need the what? What worm?" I question The Doctor. He says simply that it won't hurt just takes away the last hour of my memory. That means all of him. That is not happening.

Strax returns looking very confused and well..it turns out the worm got him instead. They search for it under the cab and I laugh at the whole thing. It's so obvious where this is going.

"Oi," The Doctor says when I laugh, looking at me. "Don't try to run away. Stay where you are."

"Why would I run?" I ask, trying not to laugh anymore. "I know what's going to happen next and its funny."

"What's funny?"

"Well, your little pal for a start. Ugly little fella isn't he?" I reply.

"He gave his life for a friend of mine once," The Doctor says. But Strax is alive.

"Then how come he's alive?"

"Another friend brought him back," he says, and then louder so Strax hears it clearly he adds "I'm not sure whether his brain made the return trip!"

"Neither am I."

And just like I suspected Strax does find the worm and loses his memory again. I pick up the gloves, the gauntlets as The Doctor called them, and hold them up.

"Because these are the gauntlets, aren't they?" I say as Strax panics, thinking he's been run over by a cab. The Doctor takes the gauntlets and eventually he's putting the worm back in this jar and explaining how it works.

"You're still not trying to run?" he notices.

"I don't understand how the snowman built itself," I say, switching subjects in the hope it distracts him from that worm thing. "I'll run…once you've explained."

"Clara who?" he asks. I never give my full name to strange men, Ma always used to say to me when I was younger to only ever give my first name. Just Clara.

"Doctor who?" I shoot back at him.

"Ah. Dangerous question," he says.

"What's wrong with dangerous?" I ask. I don't see how I could possibly get myself in much more danger than I am here. He's still talking when a snowman pops up. This time it literally is out of nowhere. Nobody made it.

"The snowman," I say but he doesn't hear me, keeps talking about the ruddy snow.

"No Doctor," I say, pulling him over and pointing it out to him. "The snowman."

"Ah interesting," he says. "Well, were you thinking about it?"

"Yes," I say. Of course I was thinking about them. It's weird. Another one pops up just like the first.

"Well stop," he says, pulls me away. Another one. "Stop thinking about the snowmen!" I can't, and there are more and more popping up, surrounding us.

"Clara," he says, his hands are against the sides of face, his fingers in my hair, his eyes staring into mine. If I weren't so afraid I'd be almost happy. "Listen to me, it's feeding off your thoughts."

I'm panicking, I can't help it. This is all impossible. "I don't understand."

He says it's a telepathic field and I'm part of it. I'm terrified; the only thing keeping me from bursting into tears and giving up is him, his arms holding me, his eyes watching me. The more I think of them, the more they'll appear he says to me.

"Picture them melting," he instructs me. I close my eyes and I do, I picture them all melting away. Ice cold water splashes against us both and they disappear.

"Good. Very good," he says, letting me go. I double check but they are definitely gone. I ask him if it'll happen again and he tells me that if it does I'll know what to do. And with that he gives me the perfect reason not to use the worm.

"Unless I forget," and his expression, I know I've won, just this little bit.

"Don't come looking for me. Forget about me. Do you understand?"

"What about the snow, shouldn't we be warning people?" I ask. There are so many questions I have about this man. How are you so calm? Why is your friend an alien? Are you an alien? Why do you look human? I don't ask any of them.

"Not my problem," he says, shuts the door and wishes me a Merry Christmas before instructing Strax to take me back to the Rose 'n Crown. I jump out the other side and wait as Strax pulls away before I follow him. As I follow, a feeling of déjà vu is creeping up on me. Like I've done this with him before, in another life. I feel like I was born to follow him, like I'm part of him and whatever his story is.

I follow him to a park, empty except for us and hide behind a tree. I'm lucky I'm so small, I always used to be just a little bitter about it but it's coming in handy now. I watch as he jumps ever so slightly and pulls down…a ladder. A ladder in the sky. He climbs up and the ladder retracts completely. Now it's my turn. I check to make sure no one else is around and walk over. I jump…and fall back. It's further up than I thought. I try again and this time I feel it, my hands connect with the cool steel and I swing for a moment in the air before it comes down. I climb up and watch as it retracts behind me. I can see a man walking outside the field and I call hello. He doesn't even hear me. Invisible. I notice the staircase, a spiral staircase that reaches high into the sky. He's got an invisible staircase. This man, whoever he is, is magical. So I climb.

He lives on a cloud. It's beautiful, all the stars above and the world below. I step off the staircase cautiously and the cloud holds my weight. I'm nervous and confused and so, so excited. There's a blue box. That must be where he lives. Awfully small. I knock on the door and then I panic. What if he hurts me, gets rid of me by pushing me off his cloud? I duck around the side as the door opens.

"Hello?" he says and he sounds surprised and maybe I'm crazy but just a little bit hopeful. He steps out, says another hello. He keeps calling it as he walks around and I manage to stay out of his sight until I can make a run for the staircase. I'm not as brave as I thought.

I wake up the next morning, my mind working through what was a dream and what was real. I'm certain that the kiss was only a dream but the memory of his lips on mine hovers there anyway and it makes me smile. I'll find him again someday, somehow. I'll be braver next time, I'll have to be. And then I sit up because I need to get to work soon. I'm sure the children will have missed me while I was gone. I've missed them. I love living my double life. Clara Oswin Oswald, barmaid and Miss Montague, governess to the Latimer family. I've been saving every bit I can in the hope that one day I'll be able to make my own life with my own adventures. But for now, I'm just a background character in the story of others.

Francesca's been having nightmares poor dear. Mr. Latimer tells me so when I arrive and Digby is keen to share his sister's story. The nightmares are about her old governess, who Digby hated because she was always cross. The same one who drowned in the pond a year ago. I notice then that even though everything else seems to have thawed, the pond is still frozen. I ask Franny about her dreams and I realise how it all fits together. I need a Doctor.

I go back to the park and try to find the ladder but it seems to have disappeared. I call for him instead, ignoring the strange looks and the voices of people talking about me. Then a woman approaches me and asks what I'm doing. I tell her I am looking for The Doctor.

"Doctor Who?" she says. That's him.

Strax is here in this house. The woman introduced herself as Jenny, Jenny Flint, and the other woman, the one who also appears to be some sort of alien, is named Vastra, Madame Vastra. She makes me answer with one word only, it's like a big riddle game but I manage. She tells me that lies are words, words, words. She says many. She gives me a test, to give The Doctor a one word message to explain everything. Only one word. These people are his friends, they will contact him because they do not approve of his isolation either. She says he suffered losses, plural. Many losses. No wonder he is so sad.

"Pond," I say and that seems to be the right word.

That night I keep hoping he'll turn up and then I pull open the curtains and he's there. At the pond and Strax is walking away. He came back…for me. I wave and he waves back so I signal him up. He turns round and then turns back holding up a hand. 5 minutes. I close the curtain and get the children ready for bed.

Franny asks me if she'll have nightmares again tonight.

"Definitely not," I tell her. She asks how I know. I tell them I have a story for them. They ask if it's one of my stories, my definitely true ones. I've told them many. Like the one about being born behind the clock face of Big Ben, accounting for my acute sense of time (partly true) or the one about how I invented fish because I dislike swimming alone (also partly true). And they are intrigued because they love my stories, as children often do. I begin and this time, this one is completely true.

"There's a man called The Doctor. He lives on a cloud in the sky and all he does, all day, every day, is stop all the children in the world from ever having bad dreams," I say and the door opens a little. I assume it must be him so I add "And as a matter of fact, he's right here. Aren't you Doctor?"

It's not the Doctor.

"Blooming 'ell!" I say and my accent falls away, forgotten. It's a woman…made of Ice. I back away, protecting the children. Digby notices my other voice and I try to be calm as possible but I can't even focus on that right now. The Ice Woman says the children have been naughty and I figure it has to be the Governess, the one who drowned in the pond. I tell the children to run and I follow. I lock us in a room and take a deep breath, knowing that she will get here soon. I tell Franny to imagine her melting but Franny is too young and too scared to focus and then the Ice Governess is at the door, moving closer.

"Where is he?" Digby asks. "Where's The Doctor?"

"I don't know," I say. He said he'd come up so where is he?

"Doctor," I hear and it's coming from a puppet. That means… "Doctor. Doctor Who?" and there he is with a device in his hand that has a green light. He points it at the governess and she melts into a puddle of water. He saved us. I'm pretty sure that's what he does.

He says she won't come back, that she's draining through the carpet as we speak. He says we're very welcome.

"We're very grateful," I reply. "I knew you'd come."

"No you didn't," he says but I can see something different. There's a spark of life, this lightness that wasn't there last time I saw him. He says he doesn't do this anymore and yet he's here, ain't he? He says a lot of words too. He stops mid-sentence, looking in the mirror like he's suddenly realised something important.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"Sorry it's just…you know I put it on," he says, more to himself than to me. He means the bow tie. It is cute and it suits him. He straightens it and I realise that this small thing, this habit, means something to him. It suddenly feels cooler.

"It's cooler," I say to no one in particular. He thinks I mean his bow tie, says bow ties are cool, but I meant the room and I tell him so. I see it then, she's coming back to life, the Ice Governess. He tries to melt her with his device but this time it doesn't work. He grabs our hands and says "Run."

Mr. Latimer is at the base of the stairs, asking his children what on earth is going on. He sees me and The Doctor.

"Who the devil are you? What are you doing in my house?" Latimer asks. Oh bother is all I can think.

"It's okay," The Doctor says. "I'm your governess'…gentleman friend and we've just been upstairs…kissing!" I give him a look. How could he say that? But then I remember the dream, the kiss, and I wonder if he's thought of kissing me too.

Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax arrive, scare the poor maid half to death. Mr. Latimer has only one question and it's for me.

"You have…a gentleman friend?" Oh for pity's sake. Men. All that's happening and that's what he decides to focus on? Really? The Doctor meanwhile is in full swing, talking to his friends about the snow and the Ice Governess. He says something to me and he calls me Clara.

"Clara? Who's Clara?" Latimer asks and I wish he would stop asking questions. If I survive this, I'm fairly certain I've lost my job. Still I 'spose the Rose 'n Crown will take me on board permanently if I ask.

"Your governess is in reality a former barmaid called Clara," The Doctor tells him and before I have a chance to explain the Ice Governess is at the top of the stairs. Closing in.

They hurry us away, stop the Ice Governess with some sort of force field for the moment while they discuss what to do. He lights up as he talks and he is genius and handsome and absolutely perfect to me.

"Stay here," The Doctor instructs. I don't listen. Ma always said I was a terrible listener.

"Oi," he says when he realises I've followed him, looking me up and down. "I told you to stay in there."

"Oh…I didn't listen," I tell him. We are standing close, so very close. A dream come true.

"You do that a lot," he says and I just go for it. I might die tonight and even if I don't, life is short and he is gorgeous.

"That's why you like me."

"Who says I like you?" he asks and he is too close. I kiss him. He squirms like he doesn't know what to do and yet, almost unnoticeably, I feel him kiss back just a little. Yes. He definitely likes me.

"I think you just did," I say when I pull away.

"You kissed me!" he says.

"You blushed," I point out.

"And with…just…shut up!" He stammers, pulls my hands away and straightens his bow tie. He seems to do that a lot. And then he runs off and I follow him, giggling ever so quietly.

He tells me that we need to get the Ice Woman out of the house but keep her away from Doctor Simeon. He hands me an umbrella before he breaks the shield stopping the Ice Governess and sets it up again behind us. We run, as we do he says we need to go to the roof. I grab his hand and pull. He complains that hand grabbing is his job. We reach a window and he climbs outside. I attempt to follow but…

"Come on got to get going," he says.

"My bustle's stuck!" I say, cursing this dress for being so stiff.

"Your bustle?" he asks, comes back and pulls me out. We fall back, me on top of him. So close that I could kiss him again. I don't.

"You're going to have to take those clothes off," he says. "I didn't mean…"

"I know I understand," I interrupt. "I do."

"Good."

"Now what's the plan?"

"Who says I've got a plan?"

"Course you got a plan, you took that," I say, gesturing to the umbrella.

"Maybe I'm an idiot," he replies. It's obvious he isn't.

"You're not. You're clever, really clever," I say and he throws me the umbrella.

"And you. If I've got a plan, what is it? You tell me."

"Is this a test?" I ask.

"Yes."

I think for a moment. We're not trying to escape and we're not hiding. We're getting her to follow us. Why? The ladder. I lift the umbrella up and feel it connect to something so I pull down. Perfect.

"After you," he says.

"After you," I reply. "I'm wearing a dress. Eyes front soldier."

"My eyes are always front," he says, stepping on the ladder.

"Mine aren't," I say. One thing about working at the Rose 'n Crown, you learn to flirt with the men in the bar. He looks at me.

"Stop it."

"No," I reply. He's cute when he's flustered. I clear my throat and hold the ladder tight. The Ice Governess is at the window.

"I understand you're the previous governess. I regret to inform you the position is taken. Goodnight," I say to her and the ladder pulls me up as it retracts. The Doctor is waiting and we race up the stairs, the Ice Governess still following us. He tries to chat, silly boy. When we reach the top his box is there, waiting.

"So you actually live up 'ere on a cloud in a box?" I ask. It's magnificent to look at.

"I have done for a long time now," he says.

"Blimey, you really know how to sulk don't ya?"

"I'm not sulking," he responds.

"You live…in a box!" I tell him.

"That is no more a box than you are a governess'!" He says. Men are always the same, thinking they know everything.

"Oh spoken like a man! You know you're the same as all the rest," I rant. Ma would be so furious with me talking this way. 'You'll never get a husband like that,' she'd be telling me. But she ain't here is she? "Sweet little Clara, works at the Rose 'n Crown. Well for your information I'm not sweet on the inside and I'm certainly not…" I stop. He was right about the box. He flicks on the lights and it is even more amazing than everything I've seen the last couple of days. He looks at me.

"It's called the TARDIS," he says. "It can travel anywhere in time and space and it's mine."

"But it's…look at it, it's…"

"Go on, say it," he says. "Most people do."

I run outside, check the 4 walls.

"It's smaller on the outside," I tell him.

"Okay, that is a first."

I ask him if it's magic. He tells me that it's a ship, a space ship.

"Does it have a kitchen?" I ask him after taking it all in.

"Another first," he says. I'm glad that I'm a surprise to him, that my questions are first. I like having that ability to be unexpected to a man who seems to expect everything.

"Sorry. Don't know why I asked that, it's just… I like making soufflés," I tell him. Ma tells me it's such a waste of time but it's making the soufflé that's the best part. When I was younger the other kids in the neighbourhood called me Souffle Girl.

"Souffles?" he asks, looking at me like he's realised something impossible.

"Why are you showing me all this?" I ask him when he says nothing more.

"You followed me remember? I didn't invite you," he replies. He is so difficult.

"You're nearly a foot taller than I am," I tell him. "You could've reached the ladder without this," I hold up the umbrella. "You took it…for me," I say and throw it to him, he catches it easily.

"Why?" I ask.

"I never know why. I only know who," he tells me, giving me a key.

"What's this?" I ask him, look him in the eyes. Those green eyes that seem so much older than his face.

"Me. Giving in," he says and he smiles. Tears fill my eyes because I'm still scared of what will happen next and I'm happy that he is letting me in, that he is as he puts it, giving in.

"I don't know why I'm crying," I manage to say in a soft voice.

"I do," he says. And he tells me to remember this moment, right here and now.

The Ice Woman grabs me from behind and holds me tight. She yanks me backwards and the key drops to the ground. "Get off me!" I yell as I wriggle and squirm, desperately trying to get free. He tries to stop the Ice Governess first with his device again, the umbrella still in his hand.

"Let her go," he says it in a strong voice but to me it sounds like begging. "Let her go now."

I wonder suddenly if this is how he losses people, do they all die around him? He is looking at me and he knows that I'm going to fall over the edge with her, we are so close to the cloud's edge. He does something to the umbrella that I don't understand but he uses the device on it and then she gives a final tug and we are both falling. I'm going to die.

"Clara," he yells and he tosses me the umbrella. I manage to grab hold of it and force it open. It slows me down just a little but I'm still falling far too fast to land safely, unharmed. The Ice Governess keeps falling faster than me and she's gone. I'm still falling too fast. He's going to lose me and there's nothing I can do.

I hit the ground with a thud and fall hard on my back. Everything hurts and the wind is knocked out of me, but I'm still breathing, still awake and able to see for now. The TARDIS forms around me a few seconds later and he's standing there above me.

"Are you okay?" he asks and it hurts because I know I'm not. Even though I survived the fall I can just feel the damage to my body.

"I don't think so," I say, and I can feel the tears but I force them away. There's ice all around me, the remains of the Ice Governess. He takes me inside the room to the others with the TARDIS, and Strax uses a device, called the Resurrection Device. It might work they say. Madame Vastra says it can bring people back for a while. I want to hope, seeing that Strax used it and is alive, but I feel like I'm slipping away.

"Madame Vastra said you were the saver of worlds once," I say to him, his hand holding mine as he looks at me, full of denial about what will happen. "Are you going to save this one?"

"If I do will you come away with me?" he asks. I want so badly for that to be my life, and he has to save the world, whether I survive or not.

"Yes," I tell him and he looks so thrilled that it breaks my heart.

Madame Vastra goes with him in the TARDIS, he's going to find Doctor Simeon and whatever else is causing all of this. I'm trying, trying to stay awake, to stay conscious but I'm falling. I don't know where I am. I feel like I've fallen like this before. I must be going insane.

I wake up and there's no more pain, and he's here beside me again.

"How?" I ask him.

"Clara! Oh Clara! I thought…we all thought…my impossible girl," he says to me. Impossible Girl. I feel like he's said that to me before but I don't remember when or why. "You, you were crying. Your eyes were closed but a tear ran down from your eye and they," he gestures to the Latimers, "they were crying. They love you Clara and they thought…Just imagine it Clara. A whole family crying on Christmas Eve. It melted the snow, turned it to salt water. You…you were the one who saved the world in the end and you saved me."

I don't tell him that I thought I was going to die too. I was so certain.

"Doctor?"

"Yes Clara?" he says.

"Are you going to show me the stars?" I ask and he nods, but his expression is like the one he wore earlier when I mentioned the soufflés. It's almost like I'm as familiar to him as he is to me.

"Just like I promised," he says, putting the TARDIS key back in my hand and kissing my forehead.

Goodbyes are always hard, but the fact that I am alive means that this time the goodbyes will not be permanent. Franny cries when I wave goodbye, and Digby looks like he might but he doesn't quite let the tears escape. Mr. Latimer wishes me luck and thanks us both. Ma is just delighted when I tell her I met a man. Not so delighted when I tell her I'm not working as a governess anymore and well...a little furious when she realises that I'm not marrying the man, only travelling with him. As I'm leaving she keeps reminding me how undignified this all is.

"Imagine how this will look to everyone Clara Oswin Oswald," Ma tells me as I'm packing the last of my things from home. "A woman galavanting around with a man the way you are. You're 26, Clara, you won't be this young and pretty forever you know! What was so wrong with Mr. Latimer? He was infatuated with you! I can tell these things. He would marry you. Why do you insist on trying to be different?" I just kiss her cheek and promise to visit them all soon enough. I pack up my few things, even the savings I have that I'll no longer need. I've got a man with a box full of adventures now.


	2. Anywhere In Time and Space

**Chapter Two: Anywhere in Time and Space**

_Hello all. Thanks for the reviews and the reading and all being awesome. I'm sorry it took so long I'm just having a hard time writing anything because it all seems really bad. So I apologise if this chapter is in fact really bad but I hope you enjoy it and yes, that is all. Until next time, Pip Pip. _

"Where would you like to go?" he asks me. He stands at the main console and just looks at me, as though he's taking in every detail so that he can remember me no matter what.

"Anywhere," I tell him. How can I possibly just choose a place, a time?

"Oh come on," he sighs, running a hand through his hair and walking over to me. He picks up my hands and stands close, his eyes staring into mine. "Anywhere at all. Where would you want to go? What would you like to see?"

"You," I say softly.

"You already can see me," he says confused. He takes a few steps back and turns away, walking back to the console.

"No," I say. "I mean, I want to see where you're from, where you grew up. Can we do that?"

"No," he answers, shaking his head.

"Why not?"

"It's…it doesn't exist anymore. There was a war…" he says. I move closer to him, take his hand and squeeze it. Just to remind him that I'm here and it's alright.

"But you have a time machine. Can't you just go back to the past and go there before the war?" I ask him.

"I…no. Even if I could, I never would. It just wouldn't be right," he tells me. "We can go anywhere but there. Clara."

"Surprise me," I tell him.

"You'll need to change," he says after flicking a few buttons and pulling a lever.

"Into what?"

"Clothes Clara. Something else. When you're around me, there tends to be an awful lot of running and well…as nice as your clothes are you can't run properly in that dress," The Doctor points out. "There is a whole wardrobe just back there. Pick anything you like. Anything at all."

I look at all the clothes, a lot of them as just t-shirts and shorts and even though I'm certain I could fit them I just can't force myself to wear them. I've never worn clothes like that in my life. It's always been a dress that hangs down to my feet, boots that hit above the ankles and long sleeves. Ma would have a fit if she saw a woman wearing some of the clothes in here. I eventually find a long sleeved shirt that could almost be a very short dress and black tights that I tuck snuggly into my boots. I don't bother with other shoes because I've already worn these boots in and I can run easily in these. Even though the clothes cover every inch of my skin except my neck and face, they are tight fitting and hug my body like a full body corset. I feel very exposed but other than my own dress, nothing else seems suitable. I step back out to the console.

"How do I look?" I ask him, seeking reassurance that I do not look like a harlot. I've never felt more uncomfortable in the clothes I'm wearing than I do now.

"Perfect," he says with a smile. 'You look absolutely perfect Clara."

"Really? Because I feel awfully exposed. Do women really where clothes like this where you're from? Just outside on the streets?"

"Oh yes. You're very conservative in fact. I've seen woman in the future wearing very little indeed, not that I was looking. It's just how the world is."

"Am I overdressed then?" I ask, worrying about where we'll end up. I hate it when people laugh at me. Silly little Clara.

"No, no. You're perfect, like I said. You look classy and fashionable. You'll be fine."

"Okay. I'm sorry Doctor," I say, folding my arms and watching him as he sprints around, pushing buttons, pulling levers, cranking this and that. "Do you need a hand?"

"It's fine. It's just…it was built for 6 people to fly, not one. But I manage."

"What happened to the others?"

"What others?"

"The other 5?"

"Oh no. There was never 5. It started with 2, me and my granddaughter but…anyway, I've been alone for a long time. I've gotten to develop some tricks to get her going."

"Why? Why wouldn't you take more people?"

"I kind of…stole the TARDIS," he says with a grin.

"Well then. That explains a lot," I reply. "So where are we going?"

"You said 'Surprise me!' and that's exactly what I indeed to do," he said. He kept looking over at me as though he was trying to figure something out. Did he feel like I was familiar to him the way I felt he was to me? Even this box, this TARDIS, it felt familiar. As though I'd seen it before.

"If your planet's gone, and there was a war, what happened to…everyone else on your planet?" I asked him.

"They died. All of them. All gone. It's just me. The last of the Timelords."

"I'm sorry," I say because it is all that I can say. I can't imagine being the last human alive. No wonder he looks so lonely, so sad. At least I can keep him company for now.

"Come on Clara, are you ready?" he asks, bounding over and holding the door open for me. I look at my clothes again, still unsure whether I trust his judgement completely, but I step out anyway. We are standing on a planet that isn't Earth. The ground is a dusty pink and there are at least three moons that I notice straight away. It is very warm and this outfit makes it so much worse. I suddenly wish I'd chosen one of the sleeveless shirts and a pair of shorts. He doesn't even seem to notice the temperature as he strolls across the ground towards what looks like a town.

"Where are we?" I ask, running after him. Nobody even gives me a second glance, so I decide that these clothes aren't so bad after all and give up being so self-conscious. The town slowly comes closer and I can see that there are houses full of people and aliens. Couples walk down the street, some look human, some look so alien I'm not even sure I can believe they exist.

"Liluri. It's well outside your solar system. It's beautiful isn't it?" The Doctor tells me. "What would you like to do?"

"I don't know. Let's just walk and you can tell me stories about Liluri…is that right?"

"Yep. You're very good at all this Clara. Usually my companions are a bit more…well shocked," The Doctor says.

"Guess I'm just a natural. Come on Chin Boy," I say with a laugh.

"What did you call me?" he asks, pulling my arm to stop me. He's looking at me like there's something wrong. Oh no, I've offended him. I'm stuck on a planet and I've offended the one man who can take me home. Good one Clara.

"I'm sorry. I didn't…your chin really isn't that bad and obviously you aren't a boy I just…I thought it was funny. I'll never say it again Doctor!"

It's The Doctor's turn to laugh now, and his laugh is pleasant, warm and hearty, just the way I'd hoped it might be.

"Oh Clara. I didn't mean that. I wasn't sure if I heard you right that's all. You called me Chin Boy?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Oh it's nothing," The Doctor said with a wave of his hand but something in the way he looked back at me when I didn't follow him told me there was more to it than he was letting on. Had his past friends called him Chin Boy? Did I remind him of one of them?

We walk into a little shop and The Doctor buys one little flower and hands it to me. I look at him and ask "What's this for?"

"For being Clara. For bringing me back. Thank you Clara."

"I can't take this. I didn't do anything," I say, thinking of what my Ma would tell me. She'd be telling me that men like him only want one thing and they'll do anything to get that. Don't let them get too cocky. No man just buys a woman a flower to say thank you. I know my Ma was bitter, that her life didn't go her way, but I can't help but be just a little apprehensive. I barely know this man and I'm on a strange planet with him.

"Alright then," he says, putting the flower in his hair and walking to another shop. He doesn't question me at all, just keeps right on going. "Will you take this?"

He hands me a box of hot chips that smell just like the ones Ma used to make if she could get potatoes and if she could be bothered. I bit into them and they are crispier than Ma's, full of flavour and so light and fluffy. These are much better than a flower.

"Thank you Doctor, for showing me the stars. For saving my life," I tell him.

"So, does that mean you'll stick around a little longer than?" he asks.

"I wouldn't leave even if I fell off another cloud," I say to him, and he kisses my forehead without warning, just a quick peck. This, right here, is the moment I'll remember. And then he's running off after a strange noise. The man who never stops running.

_I'm just apologising again because this is so bad but I'm really unable to do anything better right now. If you can help suggest things I can do to fix it please help me. Pip Pip._


	3. The Chase

**Chapter Three: The Chase**

_Hi all! Thanks for the reviews and um…I hope this is better than the last chapter. I know where I want this to go but I don't want to rush it so yeah. More reviews would be nice so I can sort of know whether people actually care if I'm writing this because I have other projects I'm also working on so I might decide to leave this for a while if I'm not sure whether people really care. Anyway, allonsy!_

"Oi," I yell, running after him through the streets. People…aliens? Anyway, they stop and stare as I bolt after The Doctor. He stops in front of a bakery where two little children are crying and a woman stands over them with a broom in her hand.

"What's this then?" The Doctor asks the woman, who puts the broom down beside her as the children still cower. The littlest one is shaking and sobbing, her blonde hair covered in flakes of what looks like ash and dirt.

"We just wanted some bread Mister!" the older girl says. She has a protective arm wrapped around the little one and seems in charge even though her body betrays her with little tremors. I've seen so many children like this back home and always I wished I could do something more. I never had anything to give them when I was younger and somehow over time it happens so often that you get used to it. You can almost ignore it.

"Did they take anything?" The Doctor asks the woman.

"Two loafs of bread they took," she says, pointing the broom at them and just missing the little one.

"I'll pay for it. Clara," he says, calling me over. I step close to him and he whispers to me "Have you got anything worth something. Please. I promise I'll find a way to replace it someday."

I twist the gold ring off my finger. Ma saved up for 18 years so she could give this to me on my 18th birthday. She said it was because I was special and I deserved it, and besides a bit of gold never hurt anyone. If you run into a spot of trouble, a gold ring like that one will get you at least a couple nights in an inn somewhere and then hopefully you'll figure something out, she always told me.

"Here," I say, offering it to him. I can't stop the little tear that rolls down my cheek, but I wipe it away quickly before he sees. He looks at it very carefully and hands it to the woman. She grunts and swings her broom forward a little to scare the girls but she takes the ring and heads back inside her store. I rush to the littlest one and help her to her feet.

"Thank you Miss," she says. She looks so human I feel like I'm home. The other girl I notice now has ears like a cat that stick up through her red hair.

"Yes thank you," the older girl says. "Come on Lily, we best be off. Mum's gonna be so mad."

Lily looks up at me and beams than rushes after what I'm guessing is her sister. She waves at us until she's so far away that I can barely see her and they turn a corner. I'll miss that ring but her little smile makes it worth it.

"Is this what you do? Just save the little ones all 'round the world?" I ask The Doctor.

"No. I mean, yes I do. But that was nothing much really. You just wait Clara…I keep forgetting what is your full name?"

"Clara…"I start. I know I should trust him, men like him are usually nice people. And besides, I've put enough trust in him already. "Clara Oswin Oswald."

"Oswin," he says, and he grabs me looking into my eyes. He's so close I can feel his breath against my cheek. "Oswin Oswald."

"Yeah," I say, wriggling back a little. He drops his hands and lets me step away but he's looking at me like I'm impossible. "Why?"

"I…Oswin? Really?"

"Yes really," I reply.

"Odd name. Well, never mind. We should get back to the TARDIS. There's something I want to show you," he says, offering me his hand. I take it and we walk back together. He tells me about Liluri, that it's a marketplace planet, that although many people live here permanently, equally as many as travellers, staying here for a few weeks and then moving on. He tells me that he came here once on his own, just to investigate. Apparently, he heard from one of the many travellers that there were metal people in Liluri and he was curious as to whether it was the Cybermen. It turned out they were literally metal people…statues in fact.

"Oswin…" he mutters to himself as he unlocks the TARDIS door. I walk inside and he follows, muttering more things I can't hear.

"Doctor what is so important about my name?!" I ask finally because I can't stand his mumbled words anymore.

"It's just…I met a girl named Oswin. Oswin Oswald in fact and she … you remind me of her a lot. I never saw her face but she saved my life," he says, not looking at me.

"It definitely wasn't me. I've never met you before," I say but somehow it feels like a lie. I'm certain somewhere deep down that we have met before. A past life maybe? I don't know. So I don't say anything.

"Of course. Clara."

"So what did you want to show me?" I ask.

"I thought you'd like to see Earth in the future. Say 2013?" he asks.

"Let's go," I say with a smile. I suddenly realise that I'm exhausted, that I haven't stopped since we left Earth and that was at least a day ago. "Actually Doctor, is there somewhere I can rest? I don't, you could take me home if you like I'm just…I need to sleep."

"Oh of course. Sorry! I'll take you to one of the guest rooms, it's very nice. There's a big bed and I'll make sure to show you where the bathroom is. I forget that humans need so much sleep sometimes, I'm very sorry Clara," he says, rushing ahead of me down a corridor. We pass a pool that looks so crystal clear. If I weren't so tired I'd stop and ask to swim in it. We pass more rooms, some with doors and others wide open spaces until we reach one with a door that he swings open. The bed is like sleeping on a fluffy cloud and my eyes struggle to stay open long enough to remember that he tells me the bathroom is two doors down from my bedroom and that if I need him just to call out. I tell him I'll be fine and I'll see him in a few hours. And that's all I can do before my eyes close shut and I'm in another world.


	4. Nightmares and Dreams

**Chapter Four: Nightmares and Dreams**

**Hi there readers! Thank you so much for the kind reviews because they make my day. I really appreciate it and any feedback is super duper because it makes my writing better and also I need constant reassurance that you don't hate it. Pip Pip.**

_I don't know where I am. I just know that the man standing near one of the TARDIS' in the repair yard is him. The Doctor. I'd know him anywhere even though he has changed so much. His face, the face I know, is gone but it's definitely him. I can tell which is his TARDIS just by looking and he's about to steal the wrong one. _

"_Doctor," I say and he doesn't hear me. _

"_Doctor," I try again, a little louder, stepping closer._

"_Yes?" he asks, looking right at me the way he always does. "What is it, what do you want?"_

"_Sorry but you're about to make a very big mistake," I tell him. "Don't steal that one, steal this one! The navigation system's knackered but you'll have much more fun." _

_And he listens. He does what I said and he's off. I look outside and the planet, this place, is beautiful, so beautiful. It's his home. But I live here. I know it. And then it's dark._

_I'm on a ship, a proper space ship. Starship Alaska. It's plastered on the walls as I walk around. _

"_Hey Oswin," says a young kid, probably about 12 years old. I wave at him and he smiles before racing by. Oswin Oswald. Junior Entertainment Manager. I know exactly who I am. Then we're crashing, falling through the sky. I'm not ready to die yet. _

_I don't remember how I survive but I'm scared and trapped. The Daleks are just outside and all I can do is make soufflés and barricade myself in the best I can. Until he turns up. He's saying hello to me!_

"_Hello," I say softly, unable to believe it. Somebody is here, talking to me. They can rescue me! "Hello! Yes,yes! Sorry do you read me?"_

"_Yes, reading you loud and clear. Identify yourself and report your status," he says. It's him this time, my Doctor. I can tell by his voice. _

"_Hello. Are you real?" I ask. It's too perfect to be true. Just too perfect. "Are you actually properly real?"_

"_Yep. I'm actually, properly real," he replies. _

"_Oswin Oswald. Junior Entertainment Manager Starship Alaska. Current status: crashed and shipwrecked somewhere…not nice. Been here a year, rest of the crew missing, provisions good but keen to move on."_

"_A year," he says so softly I can barely hear it. "Are you okay? Are you under attack?"_

"_Some local life forms, been keeping them out," I reply. _

"_Do you know what those life forms are?" he asks. _

"_I know a Dalek when I hear one yeah."_

"_What have you been doing, on your own, against the Daleks for a year?"_

"_Making soufflés?" I say, not sure what he expects. _

"_Souffles, against the Daleks," he says and I can hear the laughter in his voice like he doesn't quite believe me. _

_And then he drops out and I'm trying, trying to find him and I can't. I'm shouting hello over and over but nothing seems to work. He's gone. I lost him. _

_He turns up, here on this planet. Says he's going to rescue me. I can't help but flirt with him as I watch and hope that he comes soon. I just keep reminding myself that I am okay, that he'll be here soon and save me. I can explore the stars again. Until he says the words I wish I had never heard._

"_It's a dream Oswin," he says. "You dreamed it for yourself because the truth was too terrible." And even though I think I know where this is going I pray that I'm wrong._

"_Where am I?" I ask and when he doesn't answer I ask again and again._

"_Because you are a Dalek," he says and I remember. The crash. I tried to escape, climbed out of the ship but…I'm not a Dalek. Can't be. But he keeps talking, and he knows. I don't want to…I'm a human. I remember pain, so much pain. Metal and pain. I'm trapped, I'm a Dalek, I'm stuck and I will never, ever be free. I will never be human. I can't stop the tears. _

"_Clara it's a dream. Clara, it's only a dream," he says to me. But no, I'm Oswin. "Clara wake up!"_

I sit up and the tears are rolling down my cheek and I can still remember it all. I was Oswin Oswald, I don't know how but I was here. The Doctor's arms are around me, holding me close and I lean into his chest and cry. Because I know when I ask him he will tell me that Oswin died. And the first part, the other Doctor, I was on his home planet. And that means she died too.

"Shhh, it's alright Clara. It was a nightmare. Nothing more," he soothes, running his hand over my hair as I manage to regain some of my composure. Maybe he's right. It felt so real but it can't be, not really. I feel so stupid now and I push myself out of his arms and look at him. He looks afraid, afraid for me or afraid he's doing something wrong.

"Doctor, will you tell me about your home? Please?" I ask, forcing myself to lie down. He sits on the end of my bed and tucks me into the covers with a smile on his face.

"It was a place called Gallifrey and it was the most beautiful planet you've ever seen. The sky was burnt orange and the grass was red, fields and fields off it. Off in the distance there were snow-capped mountains and the trees had silver leaves. When the morning sunlight hit the leaves it made it look as though the forests were on fire. There were some forests of green trees, just like on Earth and a river. The Lethe River. And then there's the Citadel, enclosed in a mighty glass dome, shining under the twin suns."

"Why does the TARDIS look like a police box? Did they all look like that?" I ask him. I wish I could fall asleep again because I can tell I haven't slept even close to enough. But I can't shake the dreams, can't shake this feeling that somehow, I am both that woman on Gallifrey and Oswin Oswald. I need to know more.

"Chameleon circuit. It's meant to blend in to the time and place we land in but it's broken," he says.

"Why not fix it?"

"I did sort of, once. But I like it this way. And no they just look like silver cylinder type containers at first."

How could I have known that? I dreamt of them and I saw those cylinders, rows and rows of them. How could I have done that? Dreams don't work like that. At least, I don't think they do. I've never had dreams like that before.

"Doctor, I think I better sleep some more," I tell him. "Tell me a story. Tell me about Oswin. What happened to her? How did she save your life?"

"I met her at the Dalek Asylum. I was going to rescue her…" and those are all the words I hear before I'm falling again, asleep. This time, mercifully, I do not dream at all.


	5. The Impossible Girl

**Chapter Five: The Impossible Girl**

**Hello readers! I must say I'm sorry it took so long to do this and it kind of feels terrible to me (but I think everything I write is pretty bad so I'm a bad judge) but um…thank you for reading and reviewing and please I'm begging you review more and give me criticism and suggestions because I really do need to improve! Pip Pip.**

"How are you feeling?" The Doctor asks me when I walk out into the console room wearing a clean outfit that I managed to find in his enormous wardrobe. I've never worn pants like this before and the shirt has no sleeves at all but he doesn't look at me as though there's anything wrong with the outfit. In fact, by the little smile that plays on his lips, I think he quite likes it. The shirt is tucked in, the high waist of the pants hugging my body.

"I think I'm alright. I know I had a nightmare but I don't really remember it anymore," I tell him and it's true. I remember dreaming about Oswin but I can't remember what happened only that it terrified me. "So where are we off to?"

"We landed about a half hour ago actually but I wanted to let you rest. Welcome Clara Oswin Oswald, to London 2013!" he says, opening the door and letting me take the first step out. It looks so beautiful, so wonderful that I can't help but gasp just a little. There are lots of similarities but it is so much cleaner and fresher than home.

"It's amazing," I tell him and he nods.

"Humans. You can do just about anything," he says, jumping back into the TARDIS for a moment. The phone rings and he looks at me, confused.

"Are you going to answer it?" I ask him.

"It…It isn't a real phone. How is it ringing? Who is ringing?" he says but picks up the phone anyway. "Hello?"

"Oh! Hello. I can't find the internet," says a woman. The Doctor raises an eyebrow at me and reaches out to touch my cheek as if checking I'm actually here. I can hear her voice and if I didn't know better I'd think it was me talking.

"Sorry?" is all he says in reply. He might be a very clever boy but his communication skills still aren't the best they could be. I'm certain if I left him alone with Ma for an hour or two she'd teach him a thing or two.

"It's gone, the internet. I can't find it anywhere. Where is it?" the woman's voice asked, just slightly demanding an answer.

"Where did you get this number?" he asks.

"Woman at the shop wrote it down for me. It's a helpline isn't it? Said it was the best helpline out there."

"What woman?"

"I don't know. The woman at the shop. So why isn't there internet? Should it just sort of be there?"

"You have clicked on the wifi button haven't ya?"

"Hang on…Wi…Fi," she says slowly.

"Click on the Wifi, look at the names, see anyone you recognise?" he asks.

"It's asking me for a password," she says. There's a noise and then she asks how she's supposed to remember that. "Run…You…Clever…Boy…And…Remember," she's saying and his eyes go wide, looking straight at me. His face scrunches up as though he's concentrating particularly hard.

"What did you say?" he yells into the phone. He talks to her a couple moments longer and then tells me to wait right here for a mo'. I give him a panicked look, not sure what on Earth I'm supposed to do alone in 21st Century London but he doesn't give me a chance to say anything before he's in the TARDIS and it disappears into thin air.

I wait a few minutes before I realise he's not coming back anytime soon and decide to explore this new world. I walk into a little store called an Internet Café and everyone is on these little devices that they type away on. A young girl sits with a friend in the corner and waves at me.

"Clara, come over here a second. I'll show you how to work the internet," she beams and I walk over because she seems to know me, though I don't know how. I also don't know what the internet is but I say nothing.

"Okay, so you need to find a Wifi connection," she says and clicks one that doesn't seem to be in any language I recognise. I almost tell her I don't think it's a good idea but then I remember that I still don't know what the Internet actually is so I keep my mouth closed like a good girl. "And connect to it."

"What now?"

"Now you're connected to the Internet. So you can search for whatever you want," the girl says and then her fingers are whizzing across the little buttons and another screen comes up and she searches my name. Clara Oswald. Pictures come up of me but they aren't me at all. I see a younger version of me for some sort of Spelling Competition and another of me at some sort of party. I have no idea what is going on and I get up to leave when a girl approaches us. She turns and the back of her head looks strange, as though she's some sort of robot or something.

I wake up with The Doctor leaning over me, his eyes wet with tears.

"What are you?" he asks me yet he helps me gently to a sitting position. The girl who called me over is lying still but I can see her chest rise and fall which means she is still breathing.

"What do you mean?" I ask him.

"I've met you before. I met you in the Dalek Asylum and you died! I met you again just now and I had to choose. I watched you die! So tell me WHAT….ARE…YOU?!" he yells, the last few words almost a growl.

"I don't know what you mean. I…I was here the whole time. You left me," I reply and even though I tell myself to stay calm when I look down my hands are shaking uncontrollably.

"How can you possibly be? You aren't possible!" he yells, leaping to his feet and leaving me on the ground.

"You can't leave me here!" I shout at him because I'm truly scared that he can and will.

"Just tell me what you are? A trick? A trap?" he whispers but the fury is still there behind his green eyes and I have no answers for him.

"I'm just Clara. That's it. I promise," I tell him, pulling myself to my feet and trying my best to look in him the eye despite the height difference between us.

"Just Clara," he says, pinching my cheeks and spinning me around.

"What do you mean you saw me die?" I ask him when a smile has settled onto his face.

"Oh nothing, it must just have been a girl that looked like you. I swear she was you but you're here so she can't have been," The Doctor tells me. "It happens. Apparently there are about 7 people that look like you in the world. It's not that strange, it's just she was so like you. And she saved me. I wouldn't have made it back to you without her."

He holds out a hand for me to hold and I hesitate for a moment, my hands still shaking a little and my heart pounding in my chest. I've never seen him like that before, so angry and yet so scared of me. I don't know how to fix it but I do know something is going on and he's going to keep ignoring it because he wants to believe that this girl that saved him today and Oswin who saved him before he met me have absolutely nothing to do with me. I wish I could believe that but it's obvious that there's a connection. I just wish I knew what it was so I could explain it to him and brilliant man that he is, he'd be able to fix it. Maybe even take away the nightmares.

"Clara. I'm sorry. I can take you home if you like?" he says when I don't take his outstretched hand and I force a smile onto my face, reaching out and letting our fingers tangle together.

"I'm not ready to go home yet," I tell him and we walk back to the TARDIS, waiting faithfully for her Doctor. I feel like I've been waiting for him just as long as she has, maybe even longer. And then we're heading to a new world, starting a new adventure.


	6. Adventures Through Space and Time

**Chapter Six: Adventures through Time and Space**

"What's that?" I ask him, gesturing to the book he's been holding since he came back for me and we walked to the TARDIS.

"Just something I picked up," he says but he holds it close as though it is precious to him. I move forward and snatch it from his arms, opening it to the first page where a leaf sits and down the side of the other page it says the book belonged to Clara Oswald at all these different ages. It ends at 24 years old.

"You took this from her?" I ask.

"She's dead. I just…I need to find out more about who she was," The Doctor tells me.

"You don't believe me do you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You don't believe me when I tell you that I'm just Clara; you think I'm this girl too somehow don't you?"

"Doesn't it seem like an awfully big coincidence to you?" The Doctor replies, taking the book back from me. He's got a point there. It does seem rather impossible.

"That doesn't mean you can just steal things," I point out.

"The universe owes me!" he shouts, grabbing the book and storming off, leaving me alone in the console room.

"Doctor!" I cry after him, running down the corridor. It doesn't take me long at all to become hopelessly lost inside the TARDIS. I run for a while, hoping to catch up to him but he knows this TARDIS much better than I do and he manages to slip easily away from me. I walk through the halls, finally stopping at one of the rooms and walking inside.

Every single space in the room is full of things I recognise and don't recognise. There's a cot for a child, several umbrellas, a miniature TARDIS that looks as though it were handmade, and so many other things that I almost don't hear him muttering to himself.

"Doctor?"

"Clara," he says, closing the book and placing it on one of the shelves. "I should take you home."

"I don't want to go," I tell him.

"I can't lose you again and whatever you are, whatever you mean, I'm sure it will happen again. So I'm taking you home."

"And I'm refusing," I say, crossing my arms.

"Clara…"

"You will have to drag me off this TARDIS to make me leave and I will kick and scream the whole way. Don't you think just because you picked me up in Victorian London that I will act like a proper lady because I won't. All my life I've wanted to travel, to see all the places there are to see and I was always being told I'd get married, have a family and that would be it. Even Ma told me to stop being so stubborn and get my head out of the clouds. And I always thought I'd have to do it sometime, I even thought I very well might have ended up married to Mr. Latimer until you came along. You can't make me go back. You can't," I tell him, almost yelling towards the end.

"Clara…"

"And further more…"

"Clara! It's alright. It's alright," he says, and then picks up the book and hands it to me. "I don't know how but she, Clara Oswald, was you, so this belongs to you now. Take it. Just keep it safe."

"I…alright," I say, taking the book and holding it in my arms.

"I've got a few things to do but I'll take you to your bedroom and you can go for a wander or a swim if you like," The Doctor says, taking my hand and walking me through the corridors expertly. I slowly begin to recognise our location and swing open the next door to my bedroom. There are clothes hanging in the closet that weren't there earlier and a fresh towel on the bed.

"Where did these…come from?" I ask him.

"Oh the TARDIS probably set this up for you. Sometimes it takes her a little while to organise herself but she's rather good at making each companion a room that suits them. Complete with a wardrobe, although usually they bring their own clothes."

"Well thank you," I say.

"No problem Clara. Just try to stay out of trouble until I finish the few things I've got to do. Think you can do that?" he asks.

"I'm sure I can manage," I say, looking at the clothes and finding a swimsuit that looks as though it will both fit and be comfortable. "I'll be around the pool probably."

"Wait…you can swim can't you?" The Doctor asks.

"Yes, course I can. Pa taught me. I'm not the best swimmer in the world mind, but I know enough not to drown if that's what you're worried about."

"No it's just…I…where did you swim?"

"Lakes, dams, just here and there. Not very often but enough that I can swim."

"Right. Well, I'll leave you to change," he says, lingering in the doorway for a few moments before he walks off.

I swim for a few hours, just lazily drifting through the water, a tiny part of me hoping that if I stay in long enough The Doctor might just come and join me. It's hard to keep track of time here in the TARDIS, almost as if time doesn't exist at all. Still I'm a little hungry and a little tired, so I finally pull myself out and wrap the towel around me. It's the nicest towel I've ever had, soft and fluffy and warm. I walk through the corridor back to the bathroom closest to my room and turn the shower on, waiting as the room fogs up with the steam from the hot water. I step into the shower and marvel at how easily hot water comes on the TARDIS. At home, we'd have waited hours heating it for only a few minutes of hot water but here it is endless. It seems a shame when I have to step out and dry off and then the room seems to simply disappear around me, taking my clothes with it and leaving me in an empty corridor. The only thing that covers me is my towel and I thank god it didn't happen a few moments earlier.

"DOCTOR!" I shout, marching to the console room. I'm beginning to think it's possible the TARDIS doesn't like me. I find him standing in the centre of the console room, looking at one of the levers and slowly raising it up and down. "WHERE ON EARTH DID MY BATHROOM GO?!"

"What do you.." The Doctor asks, turning to look at me. "Oh. Um…I must have accidentally deleted it. I was going through the old rooms and well…sorry. I can get it back."

"That's rather not the point. I was in the middle of getting dressed," I tell him.

"I can…see that," he says, blushing like a school boy. "I really am very sorry."

"Since I'm already out of my clothes, why don't we get you out of yours?" I say, moving right up to him and running a hand down his chest.

"I don't…I…" he stammers, looking at me wide eyed.

"Oh come on. I'm just kidding Doctor. It's so easy to get you all flustered. Let's find me some clothes though.

"Right. Of course. Um..no those won't do," The Doctor said, reaching out and taking my hand and leading me to another bedroom that still has clothes in it.

"Who's room is this?" I ask him, looking at the clothes. There's a shirt with a union jack on it, and a red jacket that looks very comfortable.

"It belonged to Rose Tyler but…she left in a hurry and a lot of her clothes are still here. It's just until I can fix everything up again. If I deleted your bathroom I quite possibly deleted that whole section which means your bedroom is gone too."

"What about all the things in there? Can you get them back?" I ask, remembering that I put the book that belonged to the other Clara Oswald, 101 Places to See, on the dresser in the room.

"Oh yes. It'll be archived in the TARDIS, it's more likely to have just been moved. I never delete any room completely without going and checking it thoroughly. I just delete them from the locations and they are moved to the archive section of the TARDIS. It's behind several locked doors and you shouldn't go there. Sometimes she deletes rooms from there of her own accord and if they're deleted from the archive section they never come back."

"Oh. Well, I guess I can wear these for a little while," I say, picking out a singlet, the red jacket and a pair of jeans. It's all a little big on me and a little too long, Rose was obviously taller than I am, but it fits well enough and it's certainly better than walking around the TARDIS naked.

"I'll come back after I've fixed this up for you. Why don't you have a rest until then?" The Doctor suggests.

"Why don't you ever talk about the other people who've travelled with you? You told me you were over a thousand years old so you must have travelled with many people. Why don't you ever talk about them?"

"Because it hurts too much," he says, placing a kiss on my cheek before leaving me to change and relax. I do what he says, if only because there is nothing else to do until he fixes up his silly mistakes.


End file.
